


cheese.

by suhnnyseok



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Slight Angst?, Sweet Nakamoto Yuta, We don't know her, this is just uwu shit, whos's proof-reading
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24451240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suhnnyseok/pseuds/suhnnyseok
Summary: The last thing Mark wanted to be doing on a chilly Tuesday night was browsing through the shelves of Walmart to find a good enough container that could fit the dead body of his beloved pet hamster.
Relationships: Mark Lee & Nakamoto Yuta, Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 12
Kudos: 156





	cheese.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been really into this ship lately and have been meaning to write for it, and I saw a prompt that made my brain just,,,,,yeah.
> 
> Slight warning for minor character death? :(
> 
> Hope you like it!

The last thing Mark wanted to be doing on a chilly Tuesday night was browsing through the shelves of Walmart to find a good enough container that could fit the dead body of his beloved pet hamster. It didn’t help that he couldn’t stop crying; he knew it would happen more sooner than later, but the image of Cheese’s lifeless form made his chest burn in the most painful way. 

His day in general had been terrible. He’d woken up with the worst stomach ache for whatever reason, and had to skip breakfast because he was getting late for class. Several of his professors had pulled him aside to reprimand him, since he hadn’t been able to turn in any of his work on time recently. Mark had spent the rest of the day moping, choosing to ditch beer with his friends so he could go home to Cheese early. His bus ended up being almost an hour late, and what waited for him at home was the last straw. 

The reason for his odd lack of punctuality was because of how sick Cheese had been lately. Mark had been dreading this, since he’d had Cheese for almost two years now. She had been his only companion for the better part of his first year of college. She had a special place in his heart, and he was hoping to at least be there for her during her final moments. However, the cruel old universe decided otherwise.

So here he was, bawling his eyes out in the kitchenware aisle in the sleep clothes that he changed into before checking up on Cheese. He’d tried to pull himself together before leaving his house, only to break down at the storefront again. Man, he was fucked up.

“Uhm, hey?”

The voice startled him out of the pity party he’d been throwing for himself in the middle of Walmart. Mark wiped his face and tried, once again, to look half decent before turning to face whoever was talking to him. 

“Yes?” he croaked out, coming face to face with the most fascinating pair of eyes he’d ever seen. A proper look, minus the blurriness left behind by the tears in his eyes, had let him know that he knew this guy from somewhere. Maybe college?

“Oh, Mark Lee?” the boy asked, smiling gently at recognizing him. Maybe he was too trapped in the dramatics of his utterly strange and terrible day, but Mark swore he felt the world stop when the boy smiled.

“Uh, yeah. I’m sorry, I can’t seem to, um,” he stuttered, clearing his throat. Was he really gonna embarrass himself? Really universe? This too? “Do we know each other? I’m really sorry.”

The boy only waved a carefree hand. “Nah, I only know you because Taeyong talks about you so much. I’m Yuta, from his dance class.”  
Mark lets his mouth round into a little ‘o’ at the familiar name. “You moved here recently, right?”

“Yeah,” Yuta replied, before giving Mark a small frown. “Are you okay?”

It was only then that Mark realized he’d never stopped crying. Had his brain refused to register the fact that something else had been going on? Or was he just this emotionally overwhelmed.

“Oh, I’m really sorry about all this,” he mumbled, wiping harshly at his eyes. “I’ve just been having a shitty day.”

“Aw, you poor thing!” Yuta cried, and great, now he had a pretty boy giving him pity because he was being an emotional mess at Walmart. 

“Don’t worry about it, I just-” he started, only to be stopped when Yuta wrapped him up in a hug. 

“It’s okay Mark, we all have bad days,” Yuta mumbles against his ear, and oh, he was so warm. Mark found himself pressing his face into Yuta’s shoulder, shoulders shaking with a fresh wave of sobs. Fucking hell, the boy was probably judging the shit out of Mark right now, but hey, he started it.

“She’s dead, Yuta,” he rasped, words muffled by the fabric of Yuta’s hoodie. The latter only continued to hug Mark, arms tightening at his words.

“I’m sorry for your loss, Mark. Can you tell me who she is?” Yuta asked, and Mark contemplated not telling him. He’d most likely be expecting something big, like a family member at least. But a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Taeyong’s whispered, ‘what’s more to lose, man?’ and he was spilling his story onto poor Yuta’s chest.

Mark told him all about how sick Cheese had been this past week, and how he hadn’t been able to focus on any of his class work because of how worried he had been for her. He rambled on about how his day had been so bad and how’d he’d just wanted to stay with Cheese for just a little longer, and a little more about how she probably felt so lonely because he was almost never home and how bad of a hamster father he’d been.

Yuta listened to him rant in silence, rubbing comforting circles on Mark’s back throughout the whole of it. When Mark finally came to a stop and pulled away with a hurried apology, Yuta tutted and grabbed his face in both hands. 

“I know we barely know each other, but from what I can gather, you’re a lovely person and really don’t deserve such a bad day,” he said, dazzling eyes boring into Mark’s tear-filled ones. “Do you have any roommates, or anyone staying with you?”

Mark shook his head, the movement halted by Yuta’s soft hands placed on his face. He felt his cheeks heat up as he realized how close his face was to the other boy’s. He could see the dashes of highlight on his cheekbones, and oh, damn, was that an eyebrow piercing under that strand of bleach-white hair?

“If you don’t mind, could I join you for Cheese’s funeral?” 

The question caught Mark off guard, distracting him from scrutinizing every inch of Yuta;s face. “Y-you’d want to?”

“Of course!” Yuta said, as if even the idea of not attending the funeral of the pet hamster of someone you had only just met was ridiculous. “I’d hate to leave you by yourself for something that means so much to you.”

The overwhelming urge to grab Yuta and kiss him was rising in Mark’s chest, but he squashed it down and replaced it with a shaky grin instead. “Thank you, thank you so much.”

Yuta grinned right back, and hey, the world really did stop when he smiled. “Let’s find the perfect little casket for her, and maybe we can have a few drinks to celebrate her together.”

“I’d love that.”

And as they finished burying Cheese and Yuta sang her the most beautiful song in his first language, Mark thought to himself that maybe not everything about that day had been so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I have a thing for people crying at stores? Maybe.
> 
> Thanks for reading, leave some love! :)


End file.
